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<title>Brewing Realisations by DistractedDaydreamer</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27660718">Brewing Realisations</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DistractedDaydreamer/pseuds/DistractedDaydreamer'>DistractedDaydreamer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Rigel Black Chronicles - murkybluematter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Female Harry Potter, Inspired by The Rigel Black Chronicles, not admitting ur blatantly obvious love even to yourself because ur repressed that way?, sounds about right</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:01:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,198</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27660718</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DistractedDaydreamer/pseuds/DistractedDaydreamer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place during the summer of <i>The Futile Facade</i>.</p><p>(an old snippet from the ffn forums)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harry Potter/Caelum Lestrange, Harry Potter/Original Male Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>69</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Rigel Black Chronicles Appreciation</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Brewing Realisations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Potter seemed to effortlessly shape the threads of magic from her core in an instant. Again, the magic pulsed softly, a swirl of pale blue glow hovering over her midriff, then slowly gliding out to encircle the feather and lift it above the table. Looking at her control over her magic, it was impossible to tell she was a halfblood. It was beautiful. Like... his perfect batch of felix felicis, shimmering and clearly superior to the other students lacklustre attempts. For all her faults, Potter was good at this.</p><p>And when Potter opened her green eyes again, there wasn't a trace of condemnation or disappointment there at his inability to pick up the skill. Maybe frustration, but it was hard to tell. She was a damned good liar.</p><p>Potter picked up her wand again, casting the spell slowly through her wand so he could see the difference. Mentally, he cursed himself for not having paid much attention to her earlier demonstration, reminding himself to focus now. This time, he studied the magic instead of the girl. It streamed down her arm in a paler wave, before floating out the same colour as the first and lifting the second feather. She calmly watched the feathers, the magic pulsing in unison, before turning her gaze to him.</p><p>"Look, it's the exact same process, the exact same spell, just with wandless magic you need to have everything ready to go before you release the magic, and the wand helps you channel and hold the magic in that shape. With wandless magic, you need to concentrate harder. Like...apparition. You can apparate, right?"</p><p>"Of course I can apparate, brat. I'm above seventeen and above average, unlike you" he snapped back, ignoring the fact that he knew she was definitely above average. Potter's face stayed placid and patient. Caelum almost sighed in a way that was entirely undignified for a pureblood of his stature. He glanced over at the cauldrons in her lab that he was definitely not jealous of, and then fixed his eyes on the uncooperative feather. He'd been casting <em>Wingardium Leviosa</em> for more years than this brat had been alive, he'd achieved straight Os mostly for his NEWTS, and he was going to be the worlds second youngest potions master. He would not be defeated by a fluffy piece of bird hair.</p><p><em>Wingardium Leviosa</em>, he intoned, focusing on the look of Potter's magic and the feeling of his magic coming out. He extended a hand, pointing at the feather, trying to mimic the idea of a channel that a wand would have. That feather was going to lift itself, or else...<br/>
"There. Even a pureblood like you can learn from a filthy half-blood, after all. Right, Caelum?"</p><p>He opened his eyes, and a third feather was hovering the same height as the other two, a soft blue stream holding it up. As he glanced at it in surprise, his concentration broke and it began to drift downwards. Not surprise, he reminded himself. He knew it was going to happen, and so it did. <em>Though it didn't last as long as hers</em>, his inner voice whispered. To ignore it, he turned to look at Potter. She seemed genuinely happy. Fond. Affectionate. Potter...no, Harriet, he reminded himself. Not calling her Potter was part of their deal for wandless magic and since he had managed it he would have to keep his word. But he didn't want to call her Harry either. Her <em>family</em> called her Harry, so he couldn't, so Harriet it would be.</p><p>"Sure," Caelum responded, but his mind was elsewhere.</p><p>Harriet looked so pleased. <em>Beautiful</em>, his blood traitor mind uttered, but Caelum couldn't ignore it. He thought back <em>She's a filthy halfblood! That's like dating an animal</em>, but the words felt hollow. The excuses felt hollow. Caelum felt a pang of guilt, which he refused to consider, as Harry took his silent stare as a response and continued her rambling. Something about his technique, and future applications, and widespread wandless magic, and all Caelum could think was what would happen when she tried to publish these big ideas. He didn't support the bias in the potions community, but it existed, and he wasn't stupid enough to pretend like it wasn't. And it wasn't like he could keep his ears shut. He knew about the tide of pureblood politics and the rise of anti-halfblood sentiment, and the marriage law, and all the ways this society would try to keep Harriet in a cage and devalue the ideas. Ideas were worth more than the body that proposed them, and even if she was a half blood she had a modicum...more than a modicum of talent. The thought of her marrying someone who wouldn't appreciate her or protect her, like that naive Black... it made him recoil in disgust.</p><p>"...Please tell me your worthless cousin is only a safety net, and you won't actually end up marrying him."</p><p>Harriet stopped, blinked twice, and almost gaped. Caelum froze. One part of him thought: <em>Wow. I finally managed to find something that could shut up her optimism</em>. The majority of him was preoccupied with screaming abuses at his traitorous mouth that had spit out that incriminating sentence and was even now turning his cheeks red.</p><p>Harriet opened her mouth. Closed her mouth. Said: "Sorry?"</p><p>Caelum was pretty sure he was as red as a tomato, but he couldn't resist continuing. "He doesn't deserve you. Black can't understand your potions or your work, and he's going to be a dark pureblood anyway. All his friends are, and with what is coming, he's going to have to be if he doesn't want to tank his relationships and career. It would be lowering yourself to marry such an incompetent nincompoop when you could do so much else. Don't marry him, Harriet."</p><p>He heard her inhale as he said her name. She looked down at the table, fidgeting with the feathers. They had fallen at some point. She asked: "What do you mean, what is coming?"</p><p>Caelum paused, weighed his options. "I can't tell you more, but I'm sure you've noticed."</p><p>"Yes," she said.</p><p>"So?" he asked.</p><p>A breath.</p><p>The words came slowly. "Caelum, if it comes down to it, I don't have any other choice. But I trust Archie. You don't need to worry -- he's a good person."</p><p>"But is he the person you want to marry?"</p><p>Harriet laughed, a small, sad sound. "If it comes down to it, I won't have a choice." She looked up, once again completely composed. "Thank you for coming, Lestrange."</p><p>"Caelum," he insisted. He didn't know why, and shelved it under things to think about later.</p><p>Harriet's normal, blank expression faltered for a second, but he couldn't catch what it was. "Caelum," she said. "Thank you for your concern. I'm glad you managed to learn this technique. Maybe we can meet again another time this holiday?"</p><p>Phrased like that, it was clearly a dismissal. Just before he stepped into the floo to leave, he caught a glimpse of her green eyes, distant with some emotion he couldn't reach. An enigma. It made him feel profoundly helpless, and he hated it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I didn't post this before collection reveals because I was certain it would give me away! I'm a sucker for Caelum insisting Harriet call him by his first name and trying to cover burgeoning respect with bitching.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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